Friday, May 16, 2008

Grow your own herbs



You don't have to be a master gardener to grow your own herbs, just sunshine and water. I've grown basil and parsley for a few years now, I like to use big pots (it makes weeding easy) one year I used five gallon buckets to grow my herbs.

Fresh herbs improves my cooking 110%. The flavor and fragrance of fresh basil can't be beat. I love making a basic cheese pizza and topping it with fresh basil leaves, when it cooks the leaves become wilted, a bit crisp and bursting with flavor (so so good.) Sometimes I pick a few stalks of herbs and place them in a vase, instant fragrance and beauty on the cheap.

One of the best rewards of growing your own herbs is the cost savings. Fresh herbs are expensive, I know I'm not the only one who's substituted dry herbs for fresh or simply omitted them from a recipe because I didn't want to spend the money. The good news with growing your own herbs is that after the initial cost of buying the plant (cheaper if you start from seed) they are free. Home grown herbs are convenient too, right in your own back yard.

Here is a fantastic post about how to use fresh herbs in your cooking there is even a part 2 to the post that discusses how to keep fresh herbs fresher longer.

Here is a favorite and more unusual recipe using fresh basil

Here are more Frugal Friday Tips

5 comments:

Tara said...

Growing my own herbs sounds so enticing... the way you describe fresh basil on a pizza yummm lol I wonder of those herb garden growers they have for your kitchen work... It's too hot here to grow herbs outside.. Thanks for the tip :)

JC said...

I need to bring a gift to something this weekend - something simple and I think this might be it. Since I didn't plan ahead, I'm going to have to call around to see who might have some herb plants for sale but thanks for planting the idea in my head.

Lines From The Vine said...

We love to grow our own herbs too...it's a treat to give guests a cutting or two from each one when they visit. --I don't have basil anymore, I'll have to pick up another!

Thanks!
Tracy

Anonymous said...

Thats for the site. I am going to try growing my herbs this yr. & am excited. Are they picky to grow?

Heather said...

We have our own oregano because someone gave it to me as ground cover--it only recently occurred to me to actually use it.:) We want to grow parsley, basil and mint now.